Why should you attend this annual event?
As we move into August, with Autumn just around the corner, we are very pleased to be turning our attention to the upcoming BAMA Forum and Awards in October. Already, we’ve put together a packed agenda which includes expert speakers, networking opportunities and an exciting program of entertainment.

With so many reasons to attend this year, it’s difficult to consider why you wouldn’t want to come along. But in case you were in any doubt, we have put together three reasons why attending this year is a good decision:

1. Network with the experts.It’s not often that experts from so many different sectors are under one roof at the same time. Invited to our event this year are guests from a range of different aerosol businesses, as well as speakers from the fields of consumer behaviour, recycling systems, the circular economy, packaging and technology.
As an association, we recognise the importance for businesses to keep up to speed in a world driven by continual political, technological and environmental developments. As well as opportunities for members to network during the conference period of this event, our drinks reception and dinner platforms are also aimed to provide ALL guests with a relaxed and professional arena where ideas and views can be exchanged and connections made.

2.Wine tasting! If you’ve ever wondered about the art of wine tasting or would like to add to your existing knowledge of this famed fermented grape juice then who better to enlighten you than former BBC 2 Food and Drink series presenter and wine connoisseur, Jilly Goolden?
During the drinks reception, Jilly will be sharing her enthusiasm and knowledge on the crispness, body and aroma of selected wines from around the world. Following the wine tasting there will be a four course meal followed by some surprise entertainment!

3.Industry knowledge and recognition If you are a BAMA member, you are invited to listen to presentations from a range of different speakers who will be sharing their thoughts on the aerosol industry from their own unique viewpoints. The diverse speaker line-up will provide our audience with a wide and informed view of where the aerosol industry is right now and where it will be in the future.
With just a month left until the entry deadline, members are invited to submit their entries to be in the running to win. Winning entries will receive industry recognition, press coverage and vouchers worth up to £500 for winners and £250 for runners-up in each of four categories.

BAMA Forum and Awards Dinner details
The BAMA Forum and Awards Dinner will be held at Oulton Hall, Leeds on the 18th & 19th October with both members and non-members invited to the evening dinner on the 18th. Members can attend the conference and submit award entries also. For further information please contact Amy Falvey or visit the BAMA website to book your place.

When I joined BAMA a year ago I was fortunate enough to inherit a substantial piece of work called the Future of Aerosols 2 project, a follow-up to the original Future of Aerosols 1 project which was completed in 2001. This first programme focused on technical subjects and solutions to see the aerosol industry into the 21st century.

For BAMA, sustainability and especially environmental sustainability has for decades been at the heart of what we do. During the Future of Aerosols 2 project, BAMA worked with Forum for the Future who reinvigorated our own thinking about environmental sustainability and also made recommendations about how companies should work towards a sustainable future within their own business environments. Examples are: persuading companies to consider how social media might impact on aerosol products; or the effect of the skills gaps within the aerosol industry.

BAMA, via its Committees, will be working on a number of Innovation themes to help our industry tackle some key issues including:
• The Circular Economy
• Air Quality – both indoor and outdoor
• Addressing Chemicals of Concern
• Using Aerosols to Meet Human Health Needs
• Harnessing the Power of Social Media
• Creating Flexible and Resilient Supply Chains.
Each of these themes is now developing into work areas for the Committees.

As part of the work-stream of the Future of Aerosols, Forum for the Future consulted widely across industry to understand the factors which our members felt would have an effect on their business in the coming years. These were then developed into Factor Cards which detailed the background of the issues, providing information and data to help people understand the impact of these factors in greater depth.

At workshops, BAMA members studied these factors and decided which were most important to the wider aerosol industry. These were then prioritised and put into an Impact/Uncertainty Matrix. From here the groups could narrow down the themes to those shown above and also run Innovation Sessions to think about how we might bring about solutions to these themes. This Future Thinking process is now available to all BAMA members – free of charge.

The toolkit used by BAMA Members in this study can be downloaded from the Community Area of the BAMA website, along with the report BAMA is working through.

We at BAMA believe this is an excellent opportunity for companies, big and small, to take a step back from their day-to-day business and think about the challenges they might face in the next 10 or 20 years. The Factors used cover such a broad spectrum of subjects the Future Thinking process could be applied in one area of your business, say R&D or manufacturing, or more widely, to review and consider how you want your company to develop and grow in the future.

To help with Future Thinking, BAMA will moderate and facilitate workshops at members companies, also free of charge. All we ask for is a big enough room and a couple of days from a group of your staff to take the process through.

If this is of interest, please contact us and we can discuss helping you to Future Proof your business.

Industry Awards can help business. There is no doubt about that. Achieving awards impresses customers; they reward and motivate staff; and the additional publicity can help promote your business, differentiating your brand or company from the competition. The BAMA Awards are particularly highly valued as these pick the best of the best in the UK aerosol sector.

This year the organisers have changed the Awards structure and requirements a little. The first stage – having a great potential entry – is something you’ll already have underway of course. Stage two is now the crucial factor and it’s not as easy as it sounds. There’s an art as well as a science to successful Awards’ entries. We oversea the judging and that’s not always as easy as it should be. Helping the judges understand what you do and why you’ve done it should be obvious. Many entrants, however, just fail to step back and ask some basic questions before completing the entry form.

There are 5 steps to success. Here are the main questions you should ask yourself:

Question 1What was this product created to do and why is it different?
Don’t assume it will be obvious. If the design is innovative – say so. If the product meets a hitherto unmet need, spell it out. Don’t just talk about the technicalities and the way the product operates: say how it helps the user or consumer.

Question 2What is the word or page limit for each submission?
This is crucial to help the judges to consider each entry against its competitors. So please help them by complying with the requested word limit.

Question 3Do I qualify?
Make sure the product was launched into the market sometime since 1 January 2015. You must be a BAMA member to enter. Make sure that if the project was jointly carried out with another company or individual, that you are permitted to submit this for entry and that you are happy for the publicity that will flow if you are successful.

Question 4Have I supported my entry fully?
Have you completed the title of your entry with something snappy and memorable? Did you remember to include product or pictures according to the rules stipulated? Above all, did you tell the story behind the entry? It’s useful to ask someone unconnected with the company or project to read through the draft entry just to make sure that, for someone who comes to this afresh, you haven’t made assumptions about knowledge outsiders can’t possibly have. If there is a technical aspect to the entry, spell out in plain English why your solution solves a problem as well as how. Give statistics too – these could be about the unmet need, the number of sales, production…

Question 5Have I left enough time?
Our advice is: start now. The deadline for entries is way off, you’re probably thinking. After all, it’s not until September. But wait, that is only a few short weeks away. Starting to draft your entry NOW will ensure that you give it your best shot.

That’s it. Simple. A successful entry in just 5 steps. We wish all our members luck in the prestigious 2016 Awards.

Now in our eighth year, the BAMA Awards always provides a fantastic opportunity to showcase some of the latest innovations within the aerosol industry and highlight many of the UK’s success stories. The Awards Gala Dinner also provides an excellent opportunity for networking within the industry.

This year we have introduced some new categories following feedback from last year’s judging process.

The new categories include:
• New Aerosol of the Year
• Process Safety and Training
• Sustainability
• Aerosol Packaging.

There will also be a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ nominated by the BAMA Executive Committee.

The Awards will be presented on the evening of 19th October 2016 at The Belfry Hotelin Sutton Coldfield. Members and their guests will be entertained by the acclaimed comedian, former policeman and raconteur, Alfie Moore, a popular after-dinner speaker.

Companies engaged in any aspect of the aerosol industry but which are not already members of BAMA, may enter the Awards and apply to attend the Forum and Gala Dinner as long as they have applied for membership and have had their application accepted before 7th September 2016 – which is the closing date for entries. The entry form is now available to download from the BAMA website and is open to all BAMA members at: www.bama.co.uk/forum.

Patrick Heskins, Chief Executive of BAMA, says: “The UK aerosol industry continues to go from strength to strength. The BAMA Awards helps to recognise the hard work and endeavour of the industry in important areas such as Innovation and Sustainability. I look forward to seeing another set of high quality submissions from members.”

In our last blog we talked of the importance of the training which BAMA provides regarding the handling of aerosols.

Training is vital of course. However, having regard to the rules for warehousing and logistics is something that everyone engaged in handling and storage needs to be aware of. This is where BAMA’s thorough guide ‘The Warehousing of Aerosols: A BAMA Guide to Safe Storage’ comes in. Importantly, you should be aware that the 5th edition of this invaluable publication is now available to download from the BAMA site. Members must log in to obtain a FREE copy.

It covers the general requirements for safe storage; regulations; safety issues; control of hazards; and the safe disposal of aerosols.

Dr Paul Jackson, BAMA’s Technical Director, said: “Storage of filled aerosols requires careful consideration because of the risks associated with flammable propellants and liquids in order to avoid warehouse fires. The storage of filled aerosols has been the subject of much study by BAMA. The purpose of our guide is to help maximise safety levels in aerosol warehouses, whether in large or small operations”.

The key changes in this edition of the Guide are amended guidance notes on the COMAH regulations following the changes in 2015 whereby a hazard category – ‘flammable aerosols’ – was introduced. In addition, the Guide contains some new Annexes to highlight the many changes in the regulations, many of which will only affect larger warehouse operators.

Some training can be an optional extra; whilst other types of training deliver health, safety or even the future security of your company’s business.

BAMA is justifiably proud of its work over several decades to raise standards and improve safety in the aerosol industry. Apart from the manufacturing of aerosols, we also attend to safety throughout the supply chain. For companies that handle, store or transport aerosols, we offer training that is an essential ‘must do’ part of their operation.

BAMA offers accurate, sophisticated and up to date information, training at a level that helps with compliance and offers peace of mind. Our one-day training seminars on consigning aerosols for transport and on warehousing are generally regarded to be exemplary of their kind.

Because of our desire to improve safety, we don’t limit our training to Members but make it available to anyone in any company or organisation that might need it. The next round of seminars will take place this month and will be held in Stevenage.

As one delegate put it: “The transport/warehousing courses run by BAMA are a fantastic way of ensuring your business is familiar and up to date with the requirements for storing and transporting aerosols. What makes it even more useful is having access to the experts at BAMA in the room who encourage discussion and bring clarity to the already complicated legislation in place”.

The transport regulations require ‘appropriate training’ for personnel consigning aerosols for transport and these are updated on a two year cycle. This means that people should refresh their training every few years. According to the Department for Transport ‘appropriate training’ for consigning aerosols is provided at the BAMA transport seminar.

Transporting aerosols – 18 May 2016
Aerosols are classed as ‘dangerous goods’ for transport and the transport regulations require that any shipment of aerosol goods, including samples, must be properly declared and adequately packaged by staff that are ‘appropriately trained’ to the current regulations

This course delivers an understanding of how the regulations for the transport of dangerous goods are developed by the UN and applied to the transport modes (i.e. for road, rail, sea and air).

The course is aimed at employees involved in the consignment of aerosols for transport in the UK and internationally and provides them with the appropriate training to fulfil the requirements of ADR (road), RID (rail), and IMDG (sea). It also gives an understanding of what is needed to consign aerosols for transport by air.

A certificate and the latest edition of the BAMA Transport Guide are issued to those who attend.Non Members Price: £350.00 +VATBAMA Members Price: £150.00 +VAT

Warehousing aerosols – 26th May 2016
This one day seminar will provide expert guidance on how to assess and minimise the risks of storing filled aerosols and how to comply with current legislative requirements. The course is designed for anyone involved in storing filled aerosols throughout the supply chain, including third party warehousing and retail regional distribution centres.

A certificate, a set of six warehouse posters and the latest edition of the BAMA Warehousing Guide are issued to those who attend.Non Members Price: £250.00 +VATBAMA Members Price: £125.00 +VAT

Members of the UK Warehousing Association have access to this course at the BAMA Member rate.

The team and I recently attended the Aerosol and Dispensing Forum in Paris and felt a short review may be of interest for those unable to make it this year.

It was a good opportunity to meet several of our member companies who were present there as well as seeing what other companies outside of the UK are up to. The lecture programme provided a good cross section of technical discussions with a less obvious commercial element compared to previous years. The seminars ranged from gasket technology for compressed gasses through bio-sourced materials and on to the latest in testing equipment.
For the can industry, this included seminars on powder coating for mono bloc aluminium cans from PPG, new optical systems for measuring the seams on aerosol cans from Mühlbauer Group, new possibilities for printing steel cans from Colep and the latest developments in leak detection, both during can production and whilst filling, from Wilco.

One of the most interesting developments on cans, for me at least, was hidden away in a far corner of the exhibition halls where Caprosol of Switzerland and Canada http://rxreviewz.com/canadadrugs-com/ was showing prototype samples of laser welded cans which do away with traditional seamed three piece tinplate cans. They claim up to a 30% reduction in material used which, if true, is a significant step forward for steel cans. The cans also look quite different to traditional three piece steel cans: more similar to a straight sided aluminium can. I will be very interested to see how this technology develops.

The last afternoon was dedicated to the latest ‘hot topic’ for the aerosol industry, plastic cans. The main issue for plastic aerosols is size restrictions within the Aerosol Dispenser Directive (ADD) and industry is working with FEA and an external consultant to try and amend the ADD to allow larger plastic aerosols on to the market whilst maintaining the high safety standards of the industry.

The wheels of the regulatory process do not always move at the speed industry would like but I am hopeful that the Plastic Aerosol Independent Review (PAIR) project will allow the aerosol industry to explore and develop this technology and further expand the range of products offered to our consumers.

As we at BAMA gear up to plan the launch of the 2016 BAMA Awards, we now look forward to see what exciting innovations and other developments the UK industry has in wait for us.

The British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association, BAMA, is launching a new pamphlet, ‘BAMA – The Benefits of Membership’ at Making Cosmetics 2016 on 15-16th March at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

The Association is exhibiting at the Show and is for the first time organising one of the seminars, on the afternoon of 15th March, which is free to visitors. The BAMA team will be telling those in the business of manufacturing or marketing cosmetics about the benefits of including the aerosol as part of their packaging range.

As I’ve said in the foreword to the booklet: “BAMA is renowned throughout the world as setting standards of excellence that are the best. That is why, if your company isn’t already a member, you should apply to join”.

The booklet details a number of benefits and services which members have access to, amongst them:• Issues management tackling environmental, health, safety, transport, handling and technical matters• Prompt information and support on aerosol matters• Effective EU and UK industry advocacy on legislation and proposed regulations• Free BAMA publications, test methods and expert guides to the latest legislation and good manufacturing practices, including a free copy of the regularly updated BAMA Standard for Consumer Safety and Good Manufacturing Practice• Access to the members-only section on the BAMA website• A comprehensive guide to compliance with the Aerosol Dispensers Directive• Valuable resources to tackle REACH requirements including the BAMA indoor air model• Promotion of your company’s details on the BAMA website• Training seminars at preferential rates• Invitations to member-only events including the BAMA Forum and Awards Dinner• Applications for the annual members-only BAMA Awards• Two concise bi-monthly newsletters – one commercial and one technical• Annual filling statistics by sector• Access to BAMA’s committees

For a copy of the booklet or for more membership information email me at amyfalvey@bama.co.uk, call +44 (0)207 8285111 or visit stand 417 at Making Cosmetics.

A very Happy New Year to one and all. Six months into my position here at BAMA, I thought it appropriate to review my first half year and what we have to look forward to in the coming months.
So what happened in the second half of last year? After a month of job sharing with Dr John Morris, the reins were transferred and I was flying solo (I promise no more mixed metaphors). As I got up to speed with the daily challenges in the office here in Stevenage I soon http://cialisvsviagracomparison.com/ realised that, even after more than 25 years in the aerosol industry, I still had much to learn.

With the much appreciated help of Paul Jackson, our Technical Director, and Amy Falvey, Communications Manager, I managed to survive my first round of committee meetings, the AGM, and my first Forum as Chief Exec, which I thoroughly enjoyed. For 2016, we hope to top last year’s event with a healthy mix of interesting and topical presentations, some interactive sessions and changes to the BAMA Awards, with new categories for member companies to enter.

2016 will see much activity on the European front. The Aerosol Dispensers Directive starts the process of being reviewed by the European Commission and, working with our members, with our sister associations across Europe and with FEA, we plan to ensure that the needs of BAMA member companies are considered and communicated. Working with the membership, BAMA has completed the first stage of the Future of Aerosols 2 study. Now the hard work begins as we assess the output and the committees decide how to best approach some challenging themes.

As well as the work the committees will do, we also hope to use the toolkit created by the study to help members prioritise their own sustainability plans. Environmental sustainability continues to be a core part of our strategy, building on the industry’s track record in recycling and reuse of materials. Safety and standards which BAMA has promoted continue to be amongst the best in the world and our reputation is justly excellent in that regard. All that we do in 2016 will continue to build on these core strengths.
The toolkit will help members to review their businesses not just from an environmental perspective but other areas which may affect member companies including training, skills and communication.

I will be visiting a number of members during 2016 to discuss what BAMA does and how best we can help, especially with regard to technical input and training. Here’s looking forward to a healthy and prosperous 2016.